Life on the road hasn’t been kind to Trent Dilfer during his time at UAB. Through two seasons, the Blazers’ head coach has posted a 0-12 record away from Protective Stadium. Even worse, his team has failed to keep the deficit within one score on just two of those occasions.

This weekend’s matchup doesn’t look pretty on paper. After surviving a scare against FCS competition in its season opener, UAB will begin its road slate with a trip to Annapolis, Maryland to face a Navy team that is currently listed as a three-touchdown favorite.

UAB (1-0) has dropped both of its matchups against Navy (1-0) since the Midshipmen joined the American Conference two seasons ago, suffering a 41-18 defeat at home last year before falling, 31-6, on the road in 2023.

Navy and its triple-option offense enter this weekend’s matchup after piling up 468 rushing yards during a 52-7 win over VMI. The Midshipmen offer a steep challenge for UAB, which gave up 202 yards on the ground during its opening win over Alabama State.

Here’s everything you need to know about Saturday’s game, including key matchups, storylines and a score prediction.

Navy DT Landon Robinson vs. UAB’s offensive line

Before the season, this matchup appeared to be a mismatch.

Landon Robinson returns for his senior season after recording four sacks and 5.5 tackles for a loss with 28 quarterback pressures from the nose guard position last year. The 6-foot, 287-pound defensive lineman is already off to a strong start this year after tallying a pair of sacks and five pressures during Navy’s opening win against VMI.

While smaller than most nose guards, Robinson is Navy’s strongest player, posting a squat of 665 pounds and a bench press of 465 pounds. He’s also recorded a 33-inch vertical and has been clocked at 20.13 mph on the GPS tracking system.

Those are intimidating numbers for a UAB offensive line that returns just one starter from last season. That being said Blazers are feeling pretty good about their new starting five up front.

According to Pro Football Focus, UAB earned the third-best pass-blocking grade (94.3) among all 136 FBS teams during Week 1. That came after the Blazers didn’t allow a pressure over 25 pass-blocking opportunities against Alabama State.

UAB’s offensive front also paved the way for 273 yards and four touchdowns on the ground, allowing its ball carriers to average 7.8 yards per attempt. While the Blazers will face much steeper competition this week against Robinson and the Midshipmen, the opener provides reason for optimism heading into the matchup.

“We’ve got a lot of guys who haven’t played a lot, but I do believe they have a maturity about them,” UAB offensive coordinator Alex Mortensen said. “Certainly that was encouraging [during the opener] but we know we played a good team and we’ll play some better teams, too. We’re certainly not going to rest on our laurels after that, but it was a good start.”

UAB safety Sirad Bryant vs. Navy QB Blake Horvath

UAB defensive coordinator Steve Russ was guarded this week when it came to his unit’s plan to defend dual-threat quarterback Blake Horvath. Regardless of how the Blazers line up against the Midshipmen on defense, it’s a safe bet Sirad Bryant will be a big part of the equation.

Bryant, the lone returning starter from last year’s defense, is easily UAB’s most important defender. During last week’s opener, the 6-foot-2, 210-pound safety led the Blazers with eight tackles while tallying the highest defensive grade (71.4) on the team, according to PFF. Along with his tackling ability, Bryant is also capable of taking away the deep ball. According to PFF, he held opposing quarterbacks to a 69.4 NFL passer rating on balls thrown his way.

UAB will need its star defender to utilize that diverse skill set this weekend as the Blazers look to stop Horvath, who threw for 1,354 yards and 13 touchdowns with four interceptions while adding 1,246 yards and 17 more scores on the ground last season.

Russ neglected to comment on where he’d line up Bryant on Saturday. However, it’s safe to assume the star safety will see plenty of time near the line of scrimmage in an attempt to neutralize Horvath’s mobility.

“He’s a hybrid for us,” Russ said of Bryant. “He’s very physical to where he can play toward the line. At the same time, he can drop and do some things against the pass. He’s quick enough to get to the perimeter on some of their pitch stuff. He’ll be instrumental in what we’re trying to do.”

UAB QB Jalen Kitna vs. mental mistakes

For the first time since 2017, UAB didn’t punt or commit a turnover during last week’s opener. The Blazers scored on eight of their nine possessions against ASU, with their only failing drive coming when they were stuffed on fourth-and-1 from the opposing 3-yard line.

Much of that success can be attributed to Jalen Kitna’s added maturity behind center. The second-year starter put together a near-perfect game, completing 18 of 23 passes for 247 yards and a pair of touchdowns with no interceptions while consistently moving the offense down the field.

Kitna’s turnover-free night snapped a four-game streak in which he had given the ball away in some capacity. If given adequate protection this weekend, the senior should be able to attack an overhauled Navy secondary. More importantly, UAB will need him to continue to make smart decisions to avoid giving Navy’s offense extra scoring opportunities.

“I think Jalen has an overall understanding of what we’re doing,” Mortensen said. “He’s been in the offense longer. I think people forget when he got here, he had not played football in a while. Part of it I think is just knocking some rust off and playing the game at full speed. The other part of it is having familiarity with what we’re doing schematically.”

Defending the “Millennial Wing-T.”

Navy refers to second-year offensive coordinator Drew Cronic’s setup as the “Millennial wing-T.” Whatever you want to call it, Russ says it’s “a different beast” from what UAB will have to defend this season.

Navy’s offense features a run-heavy attack that blends elements of Cronic’s updated Wing-T setup with the Midshipmen’s traditional triple-option approach. That involves added motions and misdirections as well as run-pass options out of the shotgun formation.

The scheme spearheaded a 10-3 season for Navy last year and currently has the Midshipmen ranked 10th in the nation in total offense (556 yards) through the first week of the season.

“They’ve retained the element of the traditional [triple-option offense] and added the extra element of the modern with the gun stuff,” Russ said. “The gun stuff is unique because they’re doing a lot of things people don’t do out of the gun. So they have the modern newness to go with the lost art of triple-option football.”

Russ is well-versed in defending an option-attack after spending seven seasons coaching defense at Air Force. The only difference is back then, his unit was used to defending an option-based offense every day in practice.

UAB is going to have a tough time replicating what Navy does on offense during practice this week. That will ultimately require some in-game adjustments when the Blazers face the attack at full force on Saturday.

While there’s only so much UAB can do in the meantime, Russ is focused on correcting some of the fundamental mistakes that plagued his unit during the opener.

“Tackling is tackling; fundamentals are fundamentals; execution is execution,” Russ said. “You’re just executing against a vastly different offense. But it still boils down to execution, tackling and fundamental football.”

UAB’s three-headed monster is here to stay

Don’t be fooled by Jevon Jackson’s big night during the season opener. The three-headed monster in UAB’s backfield is still roaring.

Jackson led UAB on the ground against ASU, rushing for 166 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries. While the UTEP transfer received more than twice as many attempts as any other UAB back, the other two-thirds of the Blazers’ backfield did not disappoint either. Solomon Beebe also ran in a pair of touchdowns while picking up 51 yards on eight carries. Meanwhile, Isaiah Jacobs rumbled for 42 yards and a score on eight attempts.

While Jackson officially received the start during the opener, all three backs are listed as starters on UAB’s official depth chart. Expect each of them to continue to split the carries as the Blazers head into conference play.

“They all can be 1,000-yard backs,” Dilfer said. “I think they all know that. But we’re better with all three of them being involved than we are with just one of them being involved.”

Navy 42, UAB 24

Maybe it was first-game jitters. Maybe UAB’s defense was a bit too banged up during the opener. Maybe a defense Dilfer referred to as “resiliant” throughout camp will bounce back in Week 2.

Even so, it’s going to be hard for the Blazers to contain this Navy offense.

I expect UAB’s defense to show improvement this weekend. I also expect Kitna to continue to grow behind center and make mature decisions while leading the Blazers to a few scores. I just don’t think any of that is going to be enough to keep this one close.

Game info

Who: UAB (1-0) at. Navy (1-0)

Where: Navy-Marine Corp Memorial – Annapolis, Maryland

When: Saturday, Sept. 6 – 2:30 p.m. CT

Watch: CBS Sports Network

Listen: WJOX 94.5 FM | Sirius XM Channel 385